Best Actor

At the end of the recently concluded second season of “The Americans” on FX, Russian embassy worker Nina Sergeevna was sent home to stand trial for treason. In our recent webcam chat (watch below), the actress who plays this part, Annet Mahendru, admitted it is “not an easy road for Nina; never has been. It will always be like this for Nina. Her life is always on the line. You don’t know if she will survive another day, another episode.”

Sergeevana had been providing information to FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), with whom she has been having an affair. In the season finale, “Echo,” Beeman was going to betray his country but relented in the end, saying he was sorry to Nina in a letter.

The actress explained her character’s motivation: “By playing both sides, she has found truth on both sides. She is capable of anything. There’s so much weight on every decision she has to make. There’s so much responsibility. It makes it hard to breathe.”

Mahendru was born in Afghanistan and moved to New York at age 13. This current role on “The Americans” is her best known, following guest shots on “Entourage,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Mike and Molly,” “White Collar,” and “The Blacklist.”

In the first season, Mahendru had only guested but was promoted to a series regular this year. She recently reaped a Best Drama Supporting Actress bid for the Critics Choice TV Awards. At these upcoming kudos, “The Americans” is in contention for Best Drama Series with stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys also earning nominations.